BUCKS; Cars That Cost Less to Insure

By ANN CARRNS

Published: February 18, 2012

When shopping for car insurance, it's not just your driving record that determines your annual premium. The type of car you drive is also a big factor-and some cars are much more expensive to insure than others.

A variety of factors can affect a car's insurance quote, including the frequency of crashes for that model, the cost of repairs, the cost to insurers when a vehicle is declared a total loss and the cost of bodily injury claims, according to Web site Insure.com.

To give you an idea of what you might pay for a certain car, Insure.com annually produces lists of the 20 most expensive new cars to insure, and the 20 least expensive models.

To generate the 2012 lists, Insure.com used information on average rates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Rates were calculated using data from Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, Nationwide, Progressive and State Farm in ten ZIP codes per state. The rankings are based on coverage for a 2012 model with a ''representative'' driver (a single, 40-year-old male who commutes 12 miles to work each day); policy limits of $100,000 for injury liability for one person, $300,000 for all injuries and $50,000 for property damage in an accident; and a $500 deductible on collision and comprehensive coverage. The hypothetical driver has good credit and a clean driving record.

The least expensive model to insure, according to the analysis, is a minivan: the Toyota Sienna LE, with an average annual premium of just over $1,100. The list also includes 19 other cars with similar average premiums, all less than $1,200 a year. The least-expensive list tends to include lots of minivans, which have proven to be ''safe, economical'' vehicles, according to Insure.com.

At the other end of the spectrum is the 2012 Audi R8 Spyder Quattro, a two-seat convertible that is the most costly to insure, with an average annual premium of nearly $3,400. Also on the most expensive list are plenty of Mercedes, Porsches and BMWs.

Insure.com also provides a calculator that lets you get average rates for 900 different cars.

Did you consider the cost of insurance when you selected your car?

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.

PHOTO: Insurance for a Toyota Sienna LE minivan is on the low end. (PHOTOGRAPH BY TOYOTA)